Demand for houses to buy skyrockets 150% in Portugal

The demand for homes (apartments and houses) in Portugal registered a year-on-year growth of 150.4% between February and April with March standing out with a year-on-year increase of 173.5%, while February accounted for 34.1% of the total (+162.6%) and April closed with 27.5% of the demand (+113.0%), according to data revealed by Imovirtual on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Mafra leads among municipalities outside major urban centers with an increase of 234.7%, followed by Valongo (192.5%), Guimarães (191.9%), Matosinhos (185.7%) and Cascais (171.6%).

The average price ended up registering a year-on-year increase of 3.2%, rising from €291,750 in 2025 to €301,014 in 2026, with Vila Nova de Gaia standing out with the largest growth in average price, rising from €439,569 to €651,654 (+48.2%).

Porto also registered a significant increase, from €535,276 to €679,762 (+27%), while Braga went from €334,892 to €464,341 (+38.7%), Gondomar from €306,477 to €440,354 (+43.7%) and Loures from €322,826 to €454,369 (+40.7%). Conversely, Amadora shows the largest decrease in the average price sought among the main municipalities, going from 491,356 euros to 404,187 euros (-17.7%).

Regarding property types, T4 and T3 represent 15.7% and 15.4%, respectively, with T4s registering the highest year-on-year growth, increasing by +306.9%, while T3s grew by +184.3%.

T2s represent 9.1% of total demand in 2026 and registered year-on-year growth of +252.5%, reinforcing the demand for intermediate solutions, while T5+ lost relative weight, falling from 13% to 5.7%. T1s represent 1.6% of total demand and registered significant growth of +325.0%, reflecting a still relatively small share of interest, but strong growth compared to the previous year.

Geographically, Lisbon represented 23.2% of the demand, followed by Porto with 21%, which showed the largest increase, rising from 19.5% to 21% of national demand and registering a year-on-year growth of 170.8% in the number of searches.

Vila Nova de Gaia remains the municipality with the highest demand in the country, representing 5.37% of the national total, followed by Lisbon with a very close value (4.97%) and Sintra (4.28%). The municipality of Porto also stands out for having the highest growth among the main municipalities, with a year-on-year increase of 214.6% in the number of searches.

Source: Imovirtual; Credits: CM Mafra.